Friday, 30 December 2016

Hasn't it been great to see a resurgence of interest in Blood Bowl recently!

I'm very happy with my Icelander team from Roll Jordan. The Pillage People are painted with more than a nod to the blue-grey and yellow Space Wolf palette.

Blood Bowl Norse- The Pillage People

I wanted a slushy, snow and mud base for them. I drybrushed a bit of white over brown painted sand, then I added a paste of Woodland Scenics' 'Realistic Water' and 'Soft-flake snow' and Secret Weapon's 'Ground glass' for extra sparkles.

The Snow Troll has a great face. He's huge, on a 40mm base.

Blood Bowl Snow Troll

The Ulfwereners also have good monstrous anatomy. I based them on 30mm bases. (NB for a more historical bent, check out my SAGA Úlfhéðnar).

Blood Bowl Ulfwereners

The Berserkers are my favourite sculpts, absolutely ripped torsos with a great helmet.

Blood Bowl Berserkers

One of these runners reminds me of Paul from the Man Cave... The other one is a bit like Smurfette... Norsette?

Blood Bowl Norse Runners

The throwers have great expressions.

Blood Bowl Norse Throwers

I really like the lineman with the eyepatch enjoying a frosty one.

Blood Bowl Norse Linemen

Blood Bowl Norse Linemen

The team also came with a turn counter which I added to a 25mm base, painted in team colours and added snow.

Turn counter

This team took up valuable AHPC time! They came with a few extra markers which I will be doing for the challenge. Next week, I may have my first AHPC entry.

Friday, 23 December 2016

The AHPC VII started this week- I got a bit behind earlier this year and haven't started yet! i'm sure a few days won't matter too much?... I have done a bit of prepping and will get into it next week. Hopefully the first batch of stuff will get done in the near future.

In other news, the traditional second annual Aussie Wargame Bloggers' Meet-Up will be held at CanCon in late January- more info at The Man Cave. Spread the word!

And if one challenge wasn't enough, I'm contemplating facing down Kaptain Kobold's Six by Six challenge as well...

Friday, 16 December 2016

Modern wargamers frequently explore what-if scenarios involving conflict between Russia and NATO. Two fictional books explore this territory, with the fascinating commonality of being future histories written by British Army generals.

The Third World War

General Sir John Hackett & others (pub. 1978)

1985: The bear cornered. Facing difficulties at home, a troubled communist state tries to confound the new American president with a series of coordinated global crises. After initial successes, the USSR overplays its hand in Yugoslavia, and is drawn into direct conflict with the US. Claiming defence against NATO aggression, the USSR surges into Central Europe.

The Third World War is written as a 1987 post-war history, after the dust has settled. There is a somewhat dry description of the state of the world in 1984, leavened with colourful depictions of forces in conflict in various theatres. Hackett collaborated with experts in other military and economic domains. There are strategic maps showing the grand manoeuvres of both sides. There are photos captioned to represent the fighting in Europe and around the world. There are some chilling descriptions of the success (or otherwise) of home defence efforts in withstanding a nuclear strike.

The Third World War is the benchmark classic of 1980s Cold War Gone Hot alternative history. It depicts a detailed worldview, and also some vignettes of action within that bigger picture. There was a 1983 sequel (The Third World War: The Untold Story) which has more vignettes, and I would love to get my hands on a copy.

Hackett’s Third World War has influenced other writers. Harold Coyle used Hackett’s scenario explicitly as the background for his famous Team Yankee novel. Wikipedia says Max Brooks used the ‘post-event history’ format as inspiration for his own excellent World War Z.

Hackett did not forsee the changes to the British military in the early 1980s as a result of Thatcher and the Falklands, but otherwise his book stands up as plausible what-if.

Hackett served in WW2 in the Middle East, North Africa, and was seriously wounded at Arnhem. He was later promoted to General, commanded NORTHAG, and was (in)famous for writing a 1968 letter to The Times critical of the British Government’s lack of commitment to NATO. He signed it as a NATO officer, rather than as a British Army officer (once you are posted to NATO, where should your loyalties lie?).

General Sir John Hackett

2017: War with Russia

General Sir Richard Shirreff (pub. 2016)

2017: The bear resurgent. Having recently moved into the Crimea and eastern Ukraine, an emboldened Russia invades the Baltic states, which are NATO members. Putin threatens any NATO reaction with nuclear retaliation. European politicians, having reduced their conventional militaries and NATO commitments in the post Cold War years, are left grappling with this fait accompli.

This work is written in a somewhat Clancy-esque novel style, as opposed to Hackett’s history book. Shirreff describes his work as "fact-based prediction rather than fiction". Much of the action concentrates on Latvia. Shirreff has an everyman, Captain Morland of the Mercians, who is involved in a number of key small unit actions to stymie Putin’s fiendish plans. Back in Brussels, the Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO, General McKinlay, is clearly an analogue of the author, who held the same role at NATO headquarters. Like the real-life Hackett (and presumably Shirreff), he grapples with split loyalty to NATO and the UK.

Armata T-14 Prototype

There are no large scale actions in this what-if, unlike Hackett’s vision. Some ultra-modern Russian equipment is name-checked, such as the Sukhoi PAK-FA, Armata T-14, Su-34, and BMD-4. There is a lot of skirmishing between politicians and senior military officers, as Shirreff indirectly lectures us on what needs to be done to prevent his scenario becoming reality. There is frequent truly awkward expositionary dialogue:

“Damn’, said [Putin]. ‘Never mind. It is enough. We are telling the world the Americans opened fire on our pilots first and, thankfully, the wreckage of the Sukhoi fell behind our lines. That proves it was shot down over our airspace. Our friends are saying that this is not only naked aggression by America, it is also NATO attacking Russia. Russia is justified in defending herself. The only response is war. Get me Merkulov on the phone. Now.”

Shirreff did not forsee Brexit or Trump, and how this will affect NATO and the West’s relationship with Russia remains to be seen.

General Sir Richard Shirreff was Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO before his retirement in 2014. He deplores the military drawdown in Europe, noting along with his contemporaries that Russia is the only existential threat to the US and UK.

General Sir Richard Shirreff

Conclusion

It is a peculiarly British characteristic for a retired senior officer to publish fiction in order to convey a request for increased defence expenditure.

Hackett wrote in 1978 to demonstrate that with sufficient will, by 1985 NATO could be reinvigorated and be able to withstand Warsaw Pact aggression lest the USSR “enjoy the fruits of a military victory without having to fight for it.”

Shirreff gives a shorter timeline, writing in 2016 to warn against possible Russian aggression in 2017. He identifies Russia as the west’s strategic adversary. He describes his book as a wake-up call, whereby Putin’s annexation of Crimea and actions in Ukraine have “started a dynamic that can only be halted if the West wakes up to the real possibility of war and takes urgent action.”

Hackett's situation never occurred, but he writes a compelling what-if. Shirreff's less ambitious scenario is more plausible and just as concerning, but unfortunately less well written. He does give an insight into the difficulties facing NATO member cooperation, and the issues facing a NATO commander.

One can only hope that, like Hackett's work, Shirreff’s becomes a future source of war gaming what-ifs, rather than a prophetic vision.

Coincidentally, I had my first game last night of Runewars, and so I took the Undead. Since it was our first game it was a five hour slog and I was robbed of victory in the last turn! It is quite a well-crafted game, which pushes you towards conflict.

Friday, 2 December 2016

Here are the 'Terrors of the Mists' for Battlelore. I wanted to get these purple undead done in time for last week's purple-themed post, but they had to wait. I used a simple colour scheme of purple with white and grey and a black wash for a quick and effective unified force.

Battlelore Terrors of the Mists

The reanimates have a definite Ray Harryhausen feel to them, which I adore.

Battlelore Reanimates

Zombie Wolves! I love adding the gore effect to these barghests.

Battlelore Barghests

The Bone Horrors were dead simple to paint, and so first off the queue.

Battlelore Bone Horrors

The necromancers are generic evil dudes.

Battlelore Necromancers

The Banshee is completely context free, which I love. Is she a captive, or a terrible spirit even the necromancers can't fully control? I used a green wash over white, like my Mansions of Madness ghosts, and it is so easy.

To complete my theme colour, I wanted to get some more figures painted for BattleLore, but ran out of mojo (hence the recent run of retrospective posts rather than new stuff). Here's a teaser for upcoming toys:

BattleLore undead

This year, I've been able to get a bit of gaming in- in particular, I've been flexing my Battle Cry setup, which has been fun. A fair bit of Blood Bowl as well, with three tournaments and a mini league. I played a few games of Forbidden Stars as well, which were fun- it's a shame the game won't get any expansions after the FFG/ GW conscious uncoupling. Most of my gaming has been of the boardgame or "hybrid game" variety, many with figures painted by my amigo Glockta.

I really liked painting PSC's 15mm WW1 figures. I've got a few of their tanks lined up in my painting queue.

My game of the year was Pandemic Legacy. I thought this may have been overhyped, but this cooperative boardgame campaign provided me with hours of enjoyment. I can't recommend this enough, and I'm eagerly awaiting Season 2.

Earlier this year, I enjoyed playing Imperial Assault and then turning it into comics with the assistance of Mike Glasswell. This has been an unfinished symphony, but there will be more!

This week saw the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge VII announced, and I have thrown my hat in the ring. I participated for the first time last year, and it was such a fun, friendly, supporting environment I have been looking forwards to it all year. And I got so much painted! I'm grimly contemplating all the prep I have to do in the next few weeks...

My AHPC VI output!

What's coming up for WwB? I'll be clearing the decks before AHPC VII, then that should power me into 2017. I'm trying to get to CanCon in January, hopefully we can have a bloggers meet-up like last time. I'm hoping that the Blood Bowl re-release is a good thing. I'm looking forwards to getting a rancor for Imperial Assault. There are a few Kickstarters brewing... so there's more than enough to keep me out of trouble!

As ever, it is your comments that provide extra fuel to this blog, so thank you all for reading and participating!